Roger Clemens still dogged by NY steroids case

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Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, center, arrives at federal court Monday, June 18, 2012 in Washington for the verdict in his trial on charges of lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

NEW YORK (AP) — Despite Roger Clemens' victory last year in his perjury case, a defamation lawsuit filed against the former Yankees ace nearly four years ago in federal court in Brooklyn is threatening to keep alive allegations that he used steroids and cheated on his wife.

A magistrate judge in the civil case last week ordered lawyers for Clemens to turn over government documents to the plaintiff, former strength coach Brian McNamee, including 22 FBI reports and notes from an Internal Revenue Service agent that refer to Clemens' alleged affairs. A status conference in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.

Judge Cheryl Pollak wrote that adultery "is not usually found to be probative of a witness' character for truthfulness or untruthfulness." But, she added, lawyers for McNamee "might be able to cross-examine Mr. Clemens about instances in which he allegedly lied about his relationships, since in that case, the basis for impeachment would be dishonesty."

Given "the sensitive nature" of the FBI reports and IRS notes, Pollak said they could be filed under a protective order that would keep them private for now.

Lawyers representing Clemens in the civil case had sought to withhold more than 1,600 pages of documents from the government's criminal probe on the basis that they were grand jury material. However, the judge found that much of the material — including bank statements, letters and business records — should be turned over to the plaintiffs, saying that "documents produced in response to federal grand jury subpoenas does not automatically shield them from disclosure."

The 2009 suit alleges Clemens launched an "intense and coordinated public relations offensive" against McNamee after the trainer told federal investigators and Congress that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998 through 2001.

The lawsuit quotes Clemens saying in a YouTube video in 2007 that McNamee "did not inject steroids into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays or the New York Yankees." It also cites an interview with ESPN in May in which Clemens, when asked about McNamee, responded that it was a case of "somebody out there that is really crawling up your back to make a buck."

McNamee called Clemens a "pathological liar" in a story published Sunday in the Daily News.

"Steroid abuse was rampant in Major League Baseball and he was the father of it," McNamee said.

There was no immediate response to messages left Sunday with attorneys on both sides of the dispute. It was unclear if Clemens, most recently a spring training instructor for the Houston Astros, will attend this week's court hearing.

Last year, a Washington jury found the seven-time Cy Young Award winner not guilty of lying to Congress about steroids and human growth hormone. He had adamantly denied using either substance at a 2008 congressional hearing.

The prosecution's case at a two-month trial had relied heavily on the testimony of McNamee, who told jurors he injected Clemens with steroids and HGH many times. But the defense sought to show how McNamee's story evolved over time, and there was no one else to claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens' drug use.

Former country music star Mindy McCready, who died this year, made headlines in April 2008 when she claimed a longtime relationship with Clemens. Published reports at the time said she met the pitcher at a Florida karaoke bar when she was 15 and he was 28 and married. Clemens has denied the relationship.